Good thing Gaston County, North Carolina doesn't have a ban on pit bulls, or this man wouldn't be alive this morning.

Steve Carpacca, 41, was asleep in his mobile home at 3:15am when his pit bull ran into the bedroom and started barking frantically.

The man awoke to a room filled with smoke and immediately ran outside. When he realized that his dog had not followed him, he rushed back into the blazing trailer, armed with two 5-pound fire extinguishers, but the fire was already out of control.

Four fire departments responded to the call, and it took a total of 15 firefighters to douse the flames. The dog never made it out; fire crews found the little hero's body in the hall just outside Mr. Carpacca's bedroom.

Mr. Carpacca was devastated at the loss of his dog.

"The dog saved his life, absolutely," said Chief Dicky Harris with the Community Volunteer Fire Department. "If the dog hadn't been in the house, [Mr. Carpacca] would have been overcome by smoke."

It is believed that the fire was caused by an electric heater in the kitchen. Mr. Carpacca never heard any of the smoke detectors sound.